No wind left in the sail of this Astros’ fan

I’ve been an Astros’ fan longer than most of you have been alive. Many fans jumped on the Astros’ train in the ’80s during the organization’s first taste of the playoffs. Others came on board in the Bagwell-Biggio era.

Me, it all started with players like Johnny Edwards, Doug Rader, Jimmy Wynn, Fred Gladding and Roger Metzger. If you’ve followed this blog over the years, you know some of my favorite memories are centered around listening to Gene Elston and Loel Passe on a little transistor radio. Late at night. Quietly. Under the covers. So my parents wouldn’t hear that the six-year-old was staying up well beyond bed time to hear the Astros over a staticky transmission from a far-away radio station in Houston.

As as youngster, I followed the Astros through thick and thin, never “accepting” mathematical elimination like a young kid in denial after first learning Santa Claus wasn’t real.

Always thinking the best. Always hoping for a great year. Always believing “this game” could change the season.

I remember exactly where I was, what I was doing when Mike Scott threw that no-hitter. I was at one game of the ’86 playoffs. I met Biggio, Bagwell, Caminiti and others. Wrote stories about each of them after on-field interviews at the Astrodome.

I remember Drayton McLane buying the team and the incredible rush when he invested the initial dollars into signing Greg Swindell and Doug Drabek. “Now we’re chunkin’ in there!”

Was stunned at the news that Larry Dierker was moving from the broadcast booth to the manager’s seat, but thought it was genius. Big Gerry Hunsicker fan, even today. Hated — and still do — the Dierker firing. Turning point in the organization? Maybe.

If you were around in the late 1990s and early 2000s, you saw some of the best baseball players to ever play the game, not only on an Astros’ field, but in baseball history. It was a sweet time.

Agree with my friend Dan Peschong, who postulates that the Astros had two owners from 1993 to 2011: McLane I and McLane II. Still, I loved and endured both eras. They are proudly part of my heritage as an Astros’ fan and follower.

I have done my best to handle this latest transition with grace and dignity and provide an opportunity for a honeymoon and benefit of the doubt. As others have, so, too, have I so struggled with the transition.

Not so much with the move to the American League, as I think that die was cast by others. But my mom and dad raised me to respect and consider others. I’m old school, very old school. There are just things you don’t say in public. Things you don’t even think in private.

The last couple of years has been an unmitigated disaster, perhaps more off the field than on … and that takes some doing. From the “it’s my money” comment to the blatant disregard for fans, to the firing of so many employees — some long-time Astros’ icons and institutions — to the recent developments (Astros Wives’ Gala) that don’t even deserve the dignity of a defense, I’m embarrassed, humiliated, confused and ashamed.

Just a few years ago, we thought the Astros were in the Dark Ages of the organization during Cecil Cooper and Brad Mills’ runs. Those don’t even compare to these days.

Unfortunately, we aren’t talking about baseball. We aren’t discussing who should be in the rotation and which player should be up from Oklahoma City. Regrettably, neither is anyone else.

If there were any doubt before, let it be known today. I am not a fan of Jim Crane. He has abused fans, belittled the very ones he hopes will pay to see his product and smacked the city in its face. Like supporting the troops in a war that you don’t approve of, I will still follow the Astros. They are my team.

But not with the same verve and enthusiasm. It may be catching a boxscore rather than a broadcast. Today, there is no wind left in the sail.